A Mixture Of Shakespeare Trivia Quiz

Answer: Elizabeth I

The third of Henry VIII's children who ascended the English throne, Elizabeth I became Queen on 17 November 1558, at the age of 25. Shakespeare lived through most of her reign, and also through the first 13 years of the reign of her successor, James I. During the 44 years of Elizabeth I's rule, English drama flourished: though Shakespeare is undoubtedly the most famous of Elizabethan playwrights, many other remarkable works were produced during that time. James I (James VI of Scotland), the first of the Stuart monarchs, succeeded Elizabeth in 1603, and ruled until his death in 1625; the Jacobean Age, named after him, was also very favourable for English drama.

Edward VI, the youngest of Henry VIII's legitimate children (by Jane Seymour), ruled from 1547 to 1553, and was succeeded by Mary I, Henry's daughter by Catherine of Aragon.

Answer: Macbeth

Eighteen (or seventeen, according to some sources) of the 38 plays written by William Shakespeare were printed during his lifetime as one-play quartos - inexpensive editions consisting of printed sheets folded in half, and then in half again to produce four double-sided leaves. Seven years after the playwright's death, in 1623, 36 of his plays were collected by John Heminges and Henry Condell, two of Shakespeare's friends and colleagues, in a prestigious edition known as the "First Folio" - one of the most influential and valuable printed books in the world. The two plays that are not included in the First Folio - "The Two Noble Kinsmen" and "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" - are believed to have been written by Shakespeare in collaboration with other authors. In recent years, another play believed to have been at least partly written by Shakespeare, "Edward III" (1596), has begun to be included in publications of the Bard's complete works.

"Macbeth" - often referred to as "The Scottish Play" because of a supposed curse attached to it - is one of the 18 plays that were published for the first time in the "First Folio"; its first performance probably occurred in 1606. "Titus Andronicus" was first printed in 1594, "Richard III" and "Romeo and Juliet" in 1597.

Answer: Edward II

In the "First Folio", Shakespeare's plays were grouped in three categories: comedies, tragedies, and histories. The latter category includes ten plays based on English history. However, Christopher Marlowe's "Edward II" is likely to have been written earlier than most of Shakespeare's historical plays (the earliest of which is "Henry VI, Part 2"), though the exact date is uncertain. The play was first printed in 1594, the year after the author's mysterious death, though it may have been first performed as early as 1590.

Besides his histories based on the biographies of English kings, Shakespeare wrote a number of other plays based on historical characters - such as "Macbeth" and the three Roman plays ("Coriolanus", "Julius Caesar", and "Antony and Cleopatra").

Answer: Julius Caesar and The Merchant of Venice

In "Julius Caesar", Portia is the wife of Brutus, the daughter of Roman senator and famed orator Marcus Porcius Cato, known as Uticensis. One of only two female characters in the play (the other being Calpurnia, Caesar's wife), she only appears twice in Act II, when she tries to get Brutus to confide in her, reminding him of how devoted and trustworthy she is. In Act IV, before the fateful battle of Philippi, Brutus reveals to Cassius that Portia - worn out by the stress of his absence - has killed herself. The historical Portia (or Porcia, as her name is usually spelled), however, may have died of an illness well before her husband's death.

In "The Merchant of Venice", Portia is a rich heiress courted by Bassanio, a close friend of Antonio, the titular merchant who enters into a dangerous bargain with Jewish moneylender Shylock. She is probably the play's most important character, whose cleverness saves Antonio's life. Though it has plenty of romance and a happy ending, the play is considered one of Shakespeare's
"problem plays", because of its many dramatic scenes and thought-provoking speeches - as well as the very delicate issue of anti-Semitism (which was rife in Shakespeare's time). Brutus' Portia is briefly mentioned at the beginning of the play, when Bassanio compares her to the lady he loves.

Answer: A Midsummer Night's Dream

The setting for "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is the wedding of Theseus, Duke of Athens, and Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons - both of them prominent characters in Greek myth. Shakespeare's characterization, however, is rooted in the account of the life of Theseus in "Parallel Lives" by Greek historian Plutarch (early 2nd century AD). Theseus, the founder of Athens, is paralleled with Romulus, the founder of Rome; the pair is the first of the 24 featured in Plutarch's work, whose English translation by Thomas North was published in 1567. In Plutarch's account, the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta happens at the end of a four-month war between Athens and the Amazons. The only reference to this in the play, however, is Theseus telling his future bride that he "wooed her with his sword".

Theseus and Hippolyta also appear in "The Two Noble Kinsmen", attributed to Shakespeare and Jacobean playwright John Fletcher, and based on Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Knight's Tale". In the play (believed to be the last one Shakespeare wrote before retiring), Emilia, Hippolyta's sister, is the love interest of the two titular gentlemen.

Answer: King Lear

Tom o' Bedlam is the alter ego of Edgar, the legitimate firstborn son of the Duke of Gloucester, half-brother to main antagonist Edmund. The subplot involving Edgar being disowned by his father in favour of his illegitimate half-brother parallels King Lear's rejection of the sincerely devoted Cordelia in the play's main plot. In one of the play's most famous scenes, Lear, maddened by rage against his deceitful daughters, wanders on a heath in the middle of a storm, accompanied only by his Fool: there he meets Edgar pretending to be the crazed Tom o' Bedlam in order to escape pursuit. Later, on the same heath, Edgar meets his father, who has been blinded by Regan and her husband. Edgar is one of the few characters to survive at the end of the play, and it is implied that he will become the next king.

Interestingly, the ending of the play - which audiences found too dark and depressing - was altered in the 17th century by Irish playwright Nahum Tate. Shakespeare's original ending was restored in 1823 by famed actor Edmund Kean.

Answer: Cassius

Cassius is the leader of the conspiracy that leads to Caesar's death. The historical Cassius, a prominent senator and general, was Brutus' brother-in-law, as he was married to Brutus' half-sister. In the play - like Shakespeare's other Roman histories, based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's "Parallel Lives" (see Q. 5) - he is depicted as a corrupting influence: he resorts to forged letters of support to persuade the noble-hearted Brutus that the assassination would benefit the people of Rome by preventing Caesar from abusing his power. The conspirators' downfall begins with Mark Antony's impassioned funeral speech, and ends with the suicide of Cassius and Brutus after the battle of Philippi. The character of Cassius has often been interpreted as being motivated by envy and ambition, in contrast with Brutus' genuine love of his country.

Lepidus, the third member of the triumvirate after Caesar's death, appears in both "Julius Caesar" and "Antony and Cleopatra". Troilus is the protagonist of the tragedy "Troilus and Cressida", while Polonius is the father of Ophelia and Laertes in "Hamlet".

Answer: Hermione

In Greek mythology, Hermione was the daughter of Helen and Menelaus, who first married Achilles' son, Neoptolemus, then Agamemnon's son, Orestes; the name comes from Hermes, the messenger of the Greek gods. In "The Winter's Tale" - one of Shakespeare's comedies, also labeled as a romance and a problem play - Hermione is the wife of Leontes, King of Sicily, a beautiful and virtuous woman, who is nevertheless accused of adultery with her husband's best friend, Polixenes, King of Bohemia. Hermione's plight is believed by some critics to have been inspired by the tragic end of Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I's mother, who had also been unjustly accused of infidelity.

Model student Hermione Granger is one of Harry Potter's two best friends - the other being Ron Weasley, to whom she eventually gets married. In an interview, J.K. Rowling, the author of the popular series, stated that she took her character's name from "The Winter's Tale", though the two Hermiones do not really have much in common.

Answer: The Tempest

Brothers and sisters at odds with each other, in some cases until the death of one or all of them (as in the case of Claudius and Hamlet's father, or King Lear's three daughters), are an important plot device in a number of Shakespeare's plays. In "The Tempest", however, this extreme sibling rivalry has a happier ending. Before the start of the play, Antonio usurps the Dukedom of Milan from his brother, Prospero, and has him set adrift on the sea with his infant daughter, Miranda. Twelve years later, Prospero - who has become a powerful magician - has the opportunity to get revenge on his treacherous brother and those who had helped him in his dastardly deed, but eventually forgives them.

Like "The Winter's Tale", "The Tempest" has been categorized by modern critics as one of Shakespeare's "romances", because of the presence of elements of mystery and tragicomedy. "Measure for Measure", on the other hand, is considered one of the Bard's "problem plays", due to its ambiguous content.

Answer: Rosaline

A niece of Lord Capulet, Juliet's father, Rosaline is Romeo's love interest at the beginning of the play. She is mentioned in Act I in a dialogue between Romeo and his cousin Benvolio, in which Romeo reveals that his depression is due to his unrequited love for Rosaline, who has sworn to live in chastity. In the hope of curing Romeo of his infatuation, Benvolio persuades him to sneak into a ball held at Lord Capulet's house - where Romeo sees Juliet for the first time. Though tragic, stories of star-crossed lovers abound in ancient and medieval literature, the enmity between the Montagues (Montecchi) and Capulets (Cappelletti) - mentioned in Canto VI of Dante's "Purgatorio" - may have been based on historical fact.

Alice is one of the titular ladies in "The Merry Wives of Windsor"; Paulina is a character in "The Winter's Tale", and Helena is the name of characters in "All's Well That Ends Well" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

Answer: Bohemia

The Kingdom of Bohemia, which existed from 1198 to 1918, encompassed the western part of the modern Czech Republic, which is very much landlocked. On the other hand, the fictional Bohemia in "The Winter's Tale" features both a seacoast and a desert: in fact, the infant daughter of Leontes and Hermione (see Q. 8) is abandoned in a "desert country by the sea" in Bohemia. This desolate place is also inhabited by ferocious animals: Antigonus - the gentleman charged by Leontes to abandon the child (who will be given the name of Perdita) - is chased by a bear after a storm wrecks his ship. "Exit, pursued by a bear" is probably the most famous stage direction of all of Shakespeare's work.

Bohemia is the only landlocked country (former or otherwise) of the three listed as wrong answers. In addition, Yugoslavia did not exist in Shakespeare's lifetime.

Answer: Southwark

The historic district of Southwark, the oldest part of South London, lies across the River Thames from the City of London, to which it was connected by the early versions of London Bridge. In the Elizabethan era, Southwark was London's entertainment district, and the first playhouse theatre in the area, The Rose, was built there in 1587. Many of Shakespeare's plays were performed at The Rose before The Globe - in which the playwright was a shareholder - was built in 1599 on Bankside, near the river shore. The theatre burned down in 1613, and was rebuilt the following year; then, in 1642, it was closed by the Puritans, and pulled down a few years later.

The modern reconstruction, known as "Shakespeare's Globe", is located about 230 m (750 ft) from the original site. Made of English Oak with a thatched roof, it was inaugurated in 1997 with a production of "Henry V".

Answer: Ophelia

In "Hamlet", Ophelia, Polonius' daughter, is the protagonist's love interest. Rejected by Hamlet, and devastated by her father's death, the young woman loses her mind, and falls into a river while gathering wildflowers for a garland. The famous painting by Sir John Everett Millais, executed in 1851-1852, depicts Ophelia singing while floating down the river, unaware of the danger, just before the weight of her clothes drags her underwater to her death. In the play, Ophelia's demise occurs offstage, and is related by Gertrude, Hamlet's mother. Millais' painting, housed in London's Tate Britain, is famous for its extremely detailed depiction of the flora on the banks of the river; the flowers floating on the water correspond to those mentioned by Shakespeare in the episode. Elizabeth Siddal, who was the model for Ophelia, was a tragic character herself: she would later become Dante Gabriel Rossetti's wife, and die at 33 years of age of an overdose of laudanum.

Like Ophelia, both Cordelia (King Lear's youngest daughter) and Desdemona (Othello's wife) are doomed heroines, while the character of Miranda in "The Tempest" has a happy ending.

Answer: Giuseppe Verdi

Many of Giuseppe Verdi's operas are based on famous works of literature - Shakespeare being a major source of inspiration for the Italian composer, together with Friedrich Schiller and Victor Hugo. "Macbeth" was the first of Shakespeare's works adapted by Verdi, and his tenth opera; the original version premiered in 1847 in Florence, while the revised version premiered in 1865 in Paris. "Otello" and "Falstaff" were Verdi's two final operas - the former premiered in 1887, and the latter (based mostly on "The Merry Wives of Windsor", with additional scenes from "Henry IV, Part 1" and "Part 2") in 1893, both of them at Milan's famed Teatro alla Scala. A fourth opera, "Re Lear" (based on "King Lear"), was never set to music, though the two versions of the libretto still exist.

A previous "Otello" was composed by Gioachino Rossini in the 1810s, though its plot differs considerably from that of Shakespeare's tragedy.

Answer: Kenneth Branagh

Sir Kenneth Branagh is well known for his film adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, which include "Henry V" (1989), "Much Ado About Nothing" (1993), "Othello" (1995), and "Hamlet". The latter, though set in the 19th century rather than the Middle Ages, employs Shakespeare's original text, running just over four hours. The film, which was a critical success, albeit not a box office one, boasts an all-star cast that includes (besides Branagh in the title role) Derek Jacobi as Claudius, Julie Christie as Gertrude, and Kate Winslet as Ophelia, with cameos by the likes of Robin Williams, Jack Lemmon, John Gielgud, and Judi Dench (among many others). The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, but did not win any.

Of the three wrong answers, Trevor Nunn is known mostly as a theatre director, though in 1996 he directed an adaptation of "Twelfth Night". Ralph Fiennes directed and starred in a film adaptation of "Coriolanus" (2011), as well as directing many theatre productions of Shakespeare's plays. Laurence Olivier, who directed and starred in the Academy Award-winning "Hamlet" released in 1948, died in 1989.